


Silver lining

by IndianSummer2378



Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-04-16 05:31:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14157858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IndianSummer2378/pseuds/IndianSummer2378
Summary: A few days after Charlie's death, Mac and the newsroom staff are trying to deal with their new lives.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place after the series finale. I felt the urge to tie up some loose ends.  
>   
> A huge thank you, SueG5123, for your help, your encouraging words, and your beta work! Still, all mistakes are mine of course.  
>   
> No copyright infringement intended.

Mac stood in Charlie’s office, gazing through the room. The shelves, the window-sills and the desk were empty; his personal belongings gone. She had to remind herself that it wasn’t his office anymore. It was hers.

It had been five days since his funeral; five days since she had been promoted. She hadn’t had much time to think from where she was going to run ACN. The last days were full and confusing. Will was released from prison, Neal was back, Charlie’s death and funeral, her promotion and on top of all the knowledge of her pregnancy. In the moment she realized she had to move into Charlie’s office it was poor Will at whom she aimed her anger. It was late, he was already in bed and she in the bathroom when it hit her. Storming out, she yelled that she couldn’t do it. He needed some time and more words from her to understand why she was so upset. When she finally choked out what her problem was he tried to reason with her and said Charlie wouldn’t want any other person moving into this office than her. Still, Mac hated it.

They argued until late that night and at some point Mac began to feel sorry for Will. He wasn’t the reason why she had to move into the other office. She apologized and he took her in his arms, telling her there was no need to, he understood how she felt.

She couldn’t understand why he had so much faith in her. She felt (even if she would never admit it) insecure. So many people, so many families were depending on her now and that she would keep ACN and Lucas Pruit under control, or like Will said, the water out of her boat.

She felt small, not only because of her flat shoes (the first argument Will won about her pregnancy), but also because she didn’t know how to live up to Charlie’s office and the responsibility it brought with it.

She became aware of the unpleasant feeling in her gut and unconsciously put her hand on her stomach. “I know, baby” she whispered. “I don’t like it either.”

Sighing deeply, she walked over to the desk, touching it with her fingertips. A box with some personal items stood on top of it but she hesitated to take them out.

She hated how empty the room was without Charlie’s presence and without his personal touch and in a sudden outburst she put the box to the ground. Her poor belongings would never suffice to fill the room.

An envelope on the desk caught her eye.

_He’s with you, Kenzie._

She recognized Sloan’s handwriting and tears filled her eyes when she reached into the envelope and had one of Charlie’s bowties in her hand. Laughing and crying at the same time, she carefully laid the bowtie in one of the shelves and looked pleased. Suddenly the room didn’t feel empty anymore.

And maybe, just maybe, she could do this.


	2. Chapter one

Two days later Mac was fully preoccupied by her new job.

Time ran fast while she learned the processes and responsibilities and she noticed quickly how little she really knew about Charlie’s work. Meetings, paperwork, dealing with Pruit, delegating, observing, all this and more, while still being up to date and knowing what was going on in her network. It felt like more than a full-time job and she went to Will when she was discouraged and downhearted, what happened more than one time a day. Luckily, he always came up with the right words to cheer her up and give her new strength.

She didn’t know how she would do it without him, though the biggest help she got, to everyone’s surprise, was from Leona Lansing. From the very first moment Leona was at her side, guiding her. Mac was relieved even if she secretly thought it was Leona’s wish for a grandchild what kept her in her proximity. Mac had never seen Leona as rejoicing as she did when Mac told her, accidentally, about the baby. She never expected Leona to be this happy but didn’t mind as long as Leona stayed calm at her side, sharing her knowledge and experience.

One of the first things she learned from Leona was how to win arguments against Lucas Pruit. Mac was surprised when Leona told her about the various times she and Charlie fought about _News Night_. Charlie had always kept his problems away from the newsroom staff and Mac knew she needed to learn quickly to keep her mouth shut; Jim and Will didn’t need to know everything. It was tough for her, and probably the hardest thing to do.

Though Leona’s, and Will’s, encouraging words began to have an effect on her and she began to have confidence in her abilities.

This morning Leona left Mac early and for the first time in two days she was alone for longer. She decided to go through her e-mails, reading them in silence, until a knock on her door caught her attention. “Maggie,” she said surprised.

“Hi, Mac.” Hesitantly Maggie walked in. “Do you have a minute?”

“Sure.” She gestured her to sit.

Maggie sat down, faced Mac and took a deep breath. “I didn’t get the job in DC.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“I hate to crawl back but…”

“You’re not crawling,” Mac assured her.

“It’s not pleasant, though.”

“Don’t think about it,” Mac waved her hand dismissively. “Have you been to the newsroom yet?”

“No. I wanted to talk to you first.”

“Okay.”

“So, I’m back,” Maggie cheered deliberately happily.

“You’re back, but I have to tell you that Jim gave Jenna your job.”

Maggie’s face fell. “What?” she gasped. “But… I didn’t quit before I left. I… I mean it was just an interview.”

“Don’t panic,” Mac said soothingly. “We were still thinking you want the job as senior producer of _News Night_.”

“Really?” Maggie’s face lit up.

“Yes. Jim interviewed a few candidates but he’s picky, you know.” Mac half-shrugged with a smirk.

“Oh my god! Yes, I would love to!”

“Great. You can go right down there and tell him.”

“I will,” Maggie nodded wildly with a beaming smile. “Thank you, Mac.”

“Glad to have you, Maggie.”

She rose but stopped at the door. “You don’t want to know why I didn’t get the job in Washington?”

Mac smiled at her. “No,” she said simply and Maggie smiled in return.

Nervously playing with her hands, she walked to the newsroom. She was glad that Mac gave her the job as senior producer and now she hoped Jim would be happy about it too. She didn’t tell him that she was back in New York and felt a certain anxiety regarding his reaction. She knew he reacted strange and presumptuous sometimes and she told herself she wouldn’t let him made her feel small.

Dropping her hands to her side, she raised her head self-confident and entered the newsroom.

“Maggie!” Neal greeted her happily. “What are you doing here? How was your interview?”

“I’ll tell you later guys,” she told him and the bunch of people who were listening too. “Is Jim here?”

“He’s in his office,” Neal replied, gesturing in the direction of Mac’s former office.

“Thanks,” she smiled and walked on.

Before she could knock, the door opened and Jim came out, running almost into her.

“Maggie,” he said startled. “Wha… I mean… I didn’t… expect you…” He stopped his stammering and cleared his throat. “What are you doing here?”

“Can we talk? Alone?”

“Sure.” In this moment his phone rang. “Oh, that’s important,” he said, running his hand through his hair.

“I’ll wait on the terrace,” she told him when she saw his distress.

“I’ll be there in a second,” he said thankfully and retreated into his office while she made her way to the terrace. Once outside she leaned against the railing and watched the busy city to prevent her mind from making her nervous. She didn’t need to wait long and only minutes later he joined her.

“Sorry I kept you waiting,” he apologized and leaned beside her against the railing.

“No problem.”

“Maggie?”

“Yes?”

“What happened?”

“I didn’t get the job.”

“I’m sorry. I really thought they want you.”

“It seems that I’m not qualified enough to be a field producer at the white house.”

“Too inexperienced,” he said wistfully.

“Yet,” she said sure and firm what took him by surprise. “I talked to Mac and she said you still want me as your Senior Producer. Is that true?”

“Of course it is. You would make a great Senior Producer.”

For the first time in days Maggie smiled genuinely. “Then it’s good that Mac gave me the job.”

“Wha…” Jim’s mouth dropped open and Maggie laughed. “I should have expected that,” he said dryly.

“You should have,” she nudged him with her elbow. Sobering, she looked him in the eyes. “Is this okay… with us?”

“It’s more than okay.”

“I mean the job… our working relationship.”

“For me, our team and Mac it’ll be okay. And Pruit… he has to cope with Sloan and Don and Will and Mac already.”

“Does he know about the baby?”

“Not yet,” he grinned devilishly.

“I would love to see his reaction.”

“You’re not the only one…”

They got silent and turned to the city, thinking their thoughts.

“I know it isn’t right and I should be sorry that you didn’t get the job, but I’m glad you’re back,” Jim admitted quietly without looking at her.

She had never, _ever_ , expected him to say words like this so her jaw dropped while her belly made a flip-flop. Noticing that she was gaping at him, she shut her mouth hearable. “So am I.”

He faced her with a loving smile and gently laid a hand on her cheek. Closing the distance between them, he kissed her softly. “I doubt that it’s going to be easy but we’ll make it work,” he promised in a whisper.

She smiled and his arm reached around her waist, pulling her close for a far more passionate kiss.

Suddenly somebody cleared his throat beside them and they jumped apart. “Mac!” they said together, somewhat embarrassed.

“I just wanted to know if you’re having difficulties with your new working relationship but as I can see,” she pointed at the two of them, smirking contentedly. “…everything is all right.”

“I’m sorry, Mac. We’ll go back to work.”

She raised her eyebrows, her eyes shining happily. “You better do that.”

Turning on her heels, she left the embarrassed couple alone and went to Will, who was so engrossed in the papers he was reading that he didn’t notice her standing in his doorway. She used the opportunity and watched him and it wasn’t until he flipped the pages that he caught sight of her out of the corner of his eyes. ”Hey.”

“Hi,” she smiled.

“How long are you standing there?”

“Couple of minutes,” she said with a shrug and walked in to close the door.

“And, how are things upstairs?”

“For now, okay.”

He was pleased to hear that and when she stopped in front of him he took her hands and pulled her in his lap.

“Where’s Leona?”

“In a meeting.”

“She’s still helping you?” he asked, putting a lost strain behind her ear.

“Yes. I really don’t know why, but yes, she is helping me.”

“Do you think she has ulterior moves?”

“I’m not sure. I never know what this woman is up to.”

“I know this kind,” he grinned.

She slapped his chest. “Oh come on. I’m easy.”

“Of course you are.”

She cocked her head. “You’re being sarcastic.”

Before he had the chance to answer Maggie’s head appeared in the doorframe. “Rundown meeting.”

Her head disappeared and Will looked confused at Mac. “What is she doing here?”

“She’s _News Night’s_ Senior Producer,” Mac said nonchalantly and rose from his lap.

“Wha…” He stopped when he saw her smirking. “Won’t I ever get approval in my staff?” he complained, exactly knowing what her answer would be.

She tugged at his hand, encouraging him to follow her. “No.”


	3. Chapter two

After the eventful days around Charlie’s death, the following months passed by more quietly and the newsroom staff was able to concentrate on their work. That didn’t mean that everything was fine, especially when Pruit had ideas for the show it was hard for them to stay calm and composed and it wasn’t only Mac anymore who had big arguments with him.

First it was Jim, Neal and Maggie who wanted to cover more about the global surveillance but Pruit cut them off, he didn’t want technology and the global network looking bad. Then, when the debt ceiling crisis came closer, Sloan tried everything to convince him how important this topic was and Will even argued on the political side, he explained him what would happen if the President and the Congress were not in agreement. But Pruit thought it was much more important that so many, supposedly, outsider won at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards.

When the things Will had explained to Pruit became reality and the President and the Congress had their disagreement that lead to several problems in the country and Pruit still didn’t think this was important, Will was so worked up that Mac had to stop him from punching Pruit’s face in the middle of the newsroom.

It was then that Will’s staff, and even Don, noticed how weary and tired they got from fighting, while Will, no one knew why, was still doing everything he could to keep morale high. It was like he had some hidden source which gave him strength for every new day and to fight Pruit with all he had. His people were glad and proud that he was not giving up hope that maybe, one day, Pruit would change his way of thinking like Leona and Reese did a few years ago and they tried to do the same but it was getting harder each day.

~ # ~

Right after Friday night show ended, Mac walked into the newsroom. “Good show,” she said appreciating and received some fake smiles. “Jim!” she yelled when he came out of the control room. “Good show, very good show!”

He frowned and looked confused around. “You can’t mean that. We were…”

“I know,” she interrupted him with a sigh. She didn’t want to hear ever again what they were broadcasting as ‘news’ that night.

“Thank you, though. I guess.” He continued to walk to his office to get his jacket. Will came out of the studio and kissed Mac.

“I’ll change and then we can leave.”

“Just a minute.” She turned to the others. “Okay, everybody,” she said loudly. “I want to see you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you and you,” she pointed at Jim, Maggie, Sloan, Don, Tess, Tamara, Kendra, Gary, Martin and Neal. “…tomorrow in our apartment.”

“Oh a party?” Maggie asked happily.

“Err… not exactly.”

“Not _exactly_?” Jim asked, still confused by her.

“We need you to help us moving.”

“She wants,” Will gestured at Mac, walking a few steps away to prove his point.

“You want _us_ to carry your furniture?”

“Err… yes.”

“Have you ever heard of a company who does that for you?”

“She forgot to call them,” Will said, still walking.

“I didn’t forget. I just thought it would be nicer to do this with our friends.”

“But it wouldn’t be nicer _to_ your friends.”

“Oh come on, Jim. _Please_.” She tried to look like a puppy.

“What is she doing?” Jim asked Will.

“That’s her puppy face.”

“That doesn’t look like a puppy that looks like… Oh, stop it, Mac, it won’t help.”

“Why don’t you want to help them?” Maggie asked from his side. “I think we should do it.”

“Thank you, Maggie,” Mac smiled.

“Spending a Saturday carrying heavy furniture?” Jim replied annoyed. “I can think of something better.”

“Oh come on. They are our friends and we should do it.” Maggie stared him down while the others stayed quiet, well aware of the ongoing tension between the couple.

Jim deliberately put on a smile and addressed Mac. “I think we’re going to help you.”

Now that the two agreed to help the others felt obligated to agree too.

“Thank you, guys! And we’re really not having much stuff. Right, Billy?”

“Huh?” he asked, just waked from a day-dream by her. “Oh yes, not much stuff,” he nodded, not wanting to argue.

“See,” Mac smiled pleased. “This is going to be fun!” she cheered and threw her arms in the air but her friends weren’t as excited as she was and caught their belongings to get out of the building quickly.

 

Nonetheless they were all assembled in Will’s and Mac’s apartment the next morning and loaded their possessions, which really wasn’t much since Will and Mac hadn’t bought any new things for their apartment after they knew they would move out eventually, in the truck Jim had rent shortly.

“Mac Mac,” Will said from across the living room when he saw her picking up a box. “Remember what I told you. You’re not going to carry anything.”

“Here are pillows inside!” she complained loudly.

“You’re only delegating,” he told her and took the box out of her hands. “Keep an eye on her, would you?” he whispered to Don and left the room.

“What’s all this?” Don surveyed a large pile of boxes and furniture which were standing in a corner.

“That’s Will’s baby stuff.”

“Will’s?”

“Yes, _Will’s_. He buys everything for the baby he sees. And we don’t even know what we’re having yet.”

“Well, that would explain this.” He held two, a pink and a blue, baby rompers beside his head.

Mac rolled her eyes. “We have everything at least twice.”

“You could have five babies with all this stuff,” he grinned.

“Don’t you dare saying this in front of Will,” she warned him and slapped him with a pink blanket. “He’s already crazy enough! I don’t need you putting images in his head.”

Don’s grin turned into a mean smug but he didn’t say more, picked up a box and walked to the door. When he saw her pushing one of the carriages he stopped. “Mac, you shouldn’t…”

“I’m allowed to push, okay!?”

“Sure,” he ducked his head and walked on to Martin and Kendra who loaded the elevator. He then went back to the living room to get the next box while Mac walked to the bedroom where Will, Maggie and Sloan took the bed apart. When Mac entered the room she saw that it was only Sloan who was loosening the screws and Will and Maggie stood at the side, watching her incredulously.

“Sloan, you really…,” Will started but Sloan interrupted him, waving her screwdriver in his direction.

“I know how to do this.”

He raised his hands in surrender and kept watching. Mac smiled to herself and decided not to interrupt but left the bathroom door wide open to be able to watch the scene while putting last items in boxes, though nothing happened until Jim came and took one of the bedside tables.

“Here, let me help you,” Maggie said.

“I can do this alone, thank you,” he snapped and walked past her even if his face showed his effort and his forehead was glistering with sweat. Dumbfounded Maggie watched him leaving and jerked as the bed fell apart with a loud thump.

“Done,” Sloan smiled triumphantly at the wooden boards on the ground.

“Great,” Will commented dryly. “Now you can carry them to the lift,” he said and left the room to join Mac in the bathroom. “Sloan took the bed apart,” he told her and helped her folding some towels.

“I heard it.”

He glanced in the other room to see if there was someone listening before he spoke. “Do you know what’s going on between Jim and Maggie?” he whispered.

“No.”

“It is about the show?”

“I doubt it.”

“But?” he prompted, facing her.

“Well, I only know that he’s behaving like an ass when she’s around.”

“So you’re going to talk to him.”

“Sure I will.”

He was glad that she wasn’t mad at him when he saw determination mingled with anger on her face. “Please talk to him when you’re alone, okay?” he said, knowing how she could be when she ‘talked’ to someone.

“I do.”

“Great. I should…,” he pointed at the open door where Sloan stood beside the pile of boards with her hands on her hips, glaring at him.

“Yeah, you better go,” Mac chuckled.

 

Not two hours later the apartment was empty and Mac stepped beside Maggie on their way to the cabs. “Do me a favor and ride with Will and the others, would you?”

“Sure,” Maggie answered a little confused and walked over to the cab Will had stopped.

“Jim,” Mac said and walked next to him to the truck. “I’m riding with you.”

He frowned and looked as confused as Maggie before but nodded. Slowly they made their way out of the city to the house Will and Mac bought a few weeks ago.

 

“Can we stop at the next opportunity, please?” Mac shifted in her seat.

“Something’s wrong?” Jim asked concerned, looking at her belly.

“Keep your eyes on the street!”

“Sorry.”

“I just need to pee.”

“Oh, okay.”

A gas station came into view and Jim stopped the truck. “Do you need any help?” he asked uncomfortably.

“I think I can do this on my own,” she refused and they got out. Rounding the vehicle, Mac slapped Jim’s arm without warning. “What’s wrong with you, Jim?” she yelled.

“Ouch!” He rubbed the spot she hit and walked a few steps away to get out of her punch line. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Of course you do!”

“If you’re talking about the show, I do a damn good job...”

“I’m not talking about the show, you idiot. I’m talking about you and your mood!” His now helpless face didn’t diminish her anger. “Do you want to break up with Maggie?”

“No,” he said quickly, surprised by the question. “I love her.”

“Aha, then why are you such an ass?”

“I’m not an ass.”

“Yes, you are. You’re moody when she is around. You put her down in front of your team, you argue in public. What the hell is your problem?”

“I don’t have a problem.”

“ _Jim_!” she squeaked and people began to look.

“Mac, could you please…,” he tried to calm her, smiling apologizing at the passing people.

She closed the distance between them. “Jim,” she said with a quieter voice now. “Tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“Your problem with Maggie, damn it!”

He rubbed his face tiredly. “I don’t know…”

“Come on, Jim.”

He looked in her eyes and sighed defeated at the stubbornness he saw there. “I love her. I really do. But it’s complicated… I don’t know. Since she came back from her interview in DC it’s different. I don’t want to break up but I also don’t know what I should do.”

“She loves you.”

“And I love her.”

“Okay, then talk to her. Make this right.”

“I’ll try,” he said but sounded not too convincing.

She searched his face. “You don’t even know, do you?”

“What?”

“She didn’t tell you.”

“What?”

“That she got the job in DC. She got the job but declined.”

He was startled by this turn of events. “Is that true?”

“Of course it is!”

“How do you know?”

“Terry Smith told me.”

“When.”

“After the interview.”

“When Maggie came back you already knew what happened?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I thought she did.”

“Well, obviously she didn’t. But why didn’t she tell me?”

“I don’t know. You really should talk to her.”

“I do.”

“Promise.”

He rolled his eyes. “I promise.”

“Good,” Mac smiled pleased.

“Can we drive on?” he gestured to the truck. “Your husband is going to kill me if he doesn’t know where you are.”

“Not yet.” She tapped from one foot to the other. “Now I really need to pee,” she said, rushing to the restrooms and he rolled his eyes again.

~ # ~

Jim thought it would be wise to talk to Maggie as soon as possible. Not only because he wanted to, but also because he feared Mac. So after carrying some of the larger furniture into the house with the other guys he excused himself and found Maggie working with Tess and Kendra in the living room.

“Maggie, can I talk to you for a second?” he asked, gently taking her arm.

“Something’s wrong?”

“No, I just need to talk to you, please.”

She nodded and they walked outside, stopping on the lawn in front of the house.

“Shoot.”

“I need to ask you something and I want you to be honest with me.”

“Of course.”

Breathing deeply, he found the courage to ask. “Did you get the job in DC?”

“What makes you think that?” she tried to sound nonchalantly but he noticed how her face froze for a second.

“Please answer my question.”

“Did someone say that? Because if…”

“No. I simply want to know.”

“Why?”

“Come on, Maggie, just answer my question.”

She turned her head, avoiding his gaze.

“Did you get the job in DC?” he repeated.

She failed at suppressing a grunt and it was all he needed to know that Mac told the truth.

“Maggie…”

“I did,” she blurted out, looking him straight in the eyes. “I got the job.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he couldn’t prevent his voice from showing how hurt he was.

“I didn’t think it was important.”

“Bullshit, Maggie.”

“What do you want to hear from me?” she asked angrily.

“An honest explanation.”

“For what?”

“Why you didn’t tell me.”

She grunted openly now.

“Come on, there must be a reason.”

“There’s a reason. You are,” she snapped.

“What?”

“It’s your fault. You and your damn attitude!”

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t tell you because of your attitude.”

Realization dawned on him. “You thought if you tell me the truth I would’ve disapproved of you staying in New York?” he asked wide eyed.

“Yes.”

“Oh my…” His shoulders slumped and his hand reached out but didn’t touch her. “I’m sorry, Maggie. I never wanted to make you feel like you cannot talk to me honestly.”

“Well… you do it since I met you.”

“Now I feel guilty.”

“Look, Jim, you’re sometimes…” she started.

“…an idiot?” he completed.

“That too,” she said playfully, the anger gone from her voice.

He sighed. “We need to be able to talk about this. _I_ need you to tell me if I’m reacting the way I used to because I don’t want to be like this anymore, okay? You have always been the only one who told me if I’m behaving badly.”

“It was easy to yell at you when you were with other girls.”

“Because you were mad at me.”

“Yes.”

“I think you can show me my flaws even when you’re not mad at me,” he grinned.

“I think so too,” she agreed with a smile.

“Good.”

She hesitated suddenly and looked at her hands. “Jim…,” she started. “Now that we’re honest with each other… there’s actually another reason why I didn’t tell you that I declined the job.”

“Okay, tell me.”

“I felt humiliated,” she said, clearly uncomfortable.

“There was no reason to.”

“You don’t understand. I did something I never wanted to do.”

“What was it?”

“A relationship based job decision. You probably don’t remember… it was a few days after you came to _News Night_ when I was still thinking about going with Don to ten o’clock. You said I only thought about going with Don because we were a couple. I yelled that this wasn’t true, that it wouldn’t be a relationship choice and that I have the same commitment to news as you do; that I’m not only waiting for someone to put a ring on my finger and I could have kids. I knew from the moment you clicked on that news alert about Deepwater Horizon that you’re more passionate and committed to news than I’ll ever be. And I proved it when I declined the job in Washington.”

He chuckled and shook his head.

“What?” she asked irritated.

“You know…,” he said, taking her hands. “That’s exactly the conversation I had in mind when Terry called.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” he nodded. “When Terry asked me who would make a great field producer I knew it was you but I hesitated because I didn’t want you to leave. Then I remembered our conversation and that I never wanted to make you feel like I don’t believe in your commitment to your job. Because I think you’re as much committed to news as I am. If not more.”

“Thank you.”

“And I feared your reaction if you would’ve found out that I recommended someone else,” he shrugged with a playful twinkle in his eyes.

“I would’ve been very angry,” she grinned.

“That I’m sure of.” They smiled quietly at each other for a second before he spoke. “I’m glad that you didn’t take the job.”

“I am too.”

“Let’s make an agreement. I’m sure you can get in the line for the white house while working in New York if we talk to Mac, and when you get the job we’ll move to Washington.”

“What about _News Night_?”

“I doubt that Will is going to anchor the show much longer and when he’s gone, there’s no reason for me to stay.”

“You really think he’s going to quit?” she asked surprised.

“Maybe,” he shrugged. “Probably not tomorrow, but with Pruit and his idea of news… Will’s not happy.”

“Yeah…”

“I think he’s going to think about his life as soon as he’s a father and he will see what’s really important.”

“I think he already does. He got Mac moving to New Rochelle so he can be close to Charlie’s grandchildren. He wouldn’t have done this three years ago. He defends his staff in front of Pruit and keeps morale high. He’s also a loving and caring husband. Believe me, Jim, Will knows what’s important,” she said firmly and he smiled lovingly at her.

“Have I ever told you how much I like the new confident Maggie?”

She laughed for the first in a long time genuinely. “Yes you did, though it’s nice to hear it from time to time.”

He leaned forward, kissing her softly on the lips. “So do we have an agreement?”

“You would move with me to Washington?”

“I would move with you to the edge of the world.”

“Then I think we have an agreement,” she whispered and kissed him. He wanted to deepen the kiss but she pulled away and frowned. “Why did you want to talk about the job in DC today?”

“Actually… now that we’re honest with each other… Mac told me on our way here.”

“God,” Maggie flinched. “I need to apologize to her, too.”

“She’s not mad at you,” he assured her. “She just wanted us to work this out.”

“Still, I need to.”

He nodded. “So we’re okay now?”

“We are.”

“Good.”

His hands released hers and reached around her waist, pulling her close to kiss her.

“Hey,” Mac suddenly shouted out of a window on the first floor and they jumped apart. “You’re here to help us!”

“We’ll come back in,” Maggie assured her.

“She’s crazy, you know that?” Jim said annoyed.

“She’s our friend.”

“She is… though sometimes I really don’t know why.”

~ # ~

Mac gazed through her new living room. “Good job, guys. Thank you,” she said sincerely and received a lot of proud smiles.

“Pizza time,” Will announced, walking in with Tess and a large pile of pizza boxes. They handed everyone a pizza, except Mac.

“What’s with me?” she asked quizzically.

“We’re having salad.”

“ _We_ are having salad?”

“You and me.”

She frowned and he guided her to the only chair they had. “Sit down.”

“I’m not an invalid,” she protested but sat down.

“I know.”

“And I want pizza.”

“You’re not having pizza. We’re having salad. You, because you need to eat healthy and I, because I need to live long.”

He gave her the salad and she muttered something unintelligible. He sat down on the carpet next to her feet and they ate in silence until Neal spoke. “This is nice.”

“It is,” Maggie smiled and the others agreed.

Only Mac made a face. She picked a tomato with her fork, eyeing it conspicuously. “What?” she asked confused when she became aware of the other ones glances.

“Neal said that this is nice,” Will told her.

“It would be nice if I had pizza.”

He grunted but dropped this topic while the others exchanged amused glances.

They sat together until late that night, chatting and laughing; Will and Jim making some music, and when they finally went back to New York it was after midnight. It was Mac’s and Will’s first night at their new home and even if Mac was exhausted she thought she might not sleep well in the bed Sloan had miraculously put back together but when she saw that someone had plugged in her night lamp she felt safe. Though, she woke in the middle of the night, freezing. It was still dark but Will’s side of the bed was empty.

“Will?” she called out and rose when she didn’t get an answer. She searched for him and found him in his still half-empty study, sitting on the ground between boxes.

“Hey,” she said quietly, sensing his melancholic mood, and laid one hand on his shoulder. “What are you doing here?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” he said just as quietly and took a book out of a box and laid it on a pile next to him.

“You need a book shelve,” she noticed and let her hand slide from his shoulder.

“Yeah.”

She sat in his chair, watching him. “Will? Is everything all right?”

“I was thinking about today.”

“Today was nice.”

“It was. Though, I was thinking about our guys. They’re good people, Mac.”

“They are,” she agreed. “Why is that concerning you?”

He took the last book out and shoved the box away. “They don’t deserve this.”

She frowned, disturbed by his strange mood. “What do you mean?”

“I mean their jobs… Lucas. They deserve better than that. _We_ deserve better than that.”

“We all do our best.”

“Yeah…”

“Will,” she said concerned. “It’s late, maybe we should talk about this tomorrow.”

“Yes, maybe you’re right,” he sighed tiredly.

“Come on, let’s go to bed. It was a hard day.” She shifted in her chair and something in a box caught her eye. “What’s that?”

“Huh?”

“What’s that?” She reached into the box and took a frame out. “You stole my pad!” she exclaimed when she saw that he had framed the message she had written at Northwestern for him.

“I did not steal your pad,” he took the frame out of her hands. “I stole two papers from it.”

Glad to see a happy shimmer in his eyes, she took the second frame out of the box. “When did you do that?”

“A few months ago.”

“I had no idea,” she shook her head. “And why did you do that?”

“I needed to.”

“You needed to?” she repeated indignantly.

“When you got the new job I needed something to remind me why I am doing my job the way I did. I needed a reminder why I should keep going on. The way we do the news these days is horrible. Three years ago I wouldn’t have minded but you turned me upside down. I simply needed a reminder to keep fighting.”

“So this is your mysterious source of strength,” she said with tears in her eyes, looking at the words on the paper in her hands.

“Mysterious source of strength?”

“Your staff is wondering why you are still able to keep morale high. They thought you must have some source of strength. And I thought it was me…”

He smiled. “You’re a part of it,” he assured her but she didn’t look pleased. “A big part,” he corrected himself and rose from the floor.

“I hope so,” she teased him.

“You are,” he kissed her cheek and put both frames to the side. “This was just something I used when you weren’t around.”

“Well, I can live with that.”

“Good.” He took her hand. “Can we go to bed now?”

“Yes.” She stood. “Still you stole my pad,” she insisted when they walked through the door and he groaned.


	4. Chapter three

“We don’t do this shit!” Will shouted annoyed while he paced the length of Mac’s office. She just told him about Pruit’s latest plans for _News Night_ and had to listen to Will’s ranting now. “He wants to use the show as advertising space,” he yelled and threw his hands in the air.

“He wants us to _interview_ his…”

He stopped her sentence by grabbing the papers on her desk. “This isn’t an interview! Don’t tell me you’re not seeing that this is advertising.”

She sighed. “Of course I see it.”

He smashed the papers back on their place. “I hate it, Mac, I really hate it.”

“I hate it too.”

“And I hate him,” he went on. “This stupid moron thinks he can do everything.” He can, she wanted to say but bit her lip. “He wants his stupid internet friends to come to our show so they can advertise for their businesses!” he repeated loudly. “He sent Jim the questions I should ask!”

“I know.”

He stopped his pacing and pressed his hands on her desk, looking intensely at her. “Mac, we won’t do this, okay. Promise me that you’ll find a way.”

“I will talk to him and make clear that we won’t do this,” she said firmly but they both knew she would never convince Pruit to let off his plan. Will nodded, though, and straightened his back. Right in this moment Lucas Pruit walked in without bothering to knock at the door.

“Speaking of the devil…,” Will said and turned to him.

“You were talking about me? Well that’s nice,” Pruit said with a smug grin on his face. “I just wanted to hear how you are going to implement my plans for Friday night show.”

“We won’t.”

“ _Will_ ,” Mac hissed and rose from her chair.

“What does that mean?” Pruit looked from one to the other.

“We were just talking about your… _plans_ ,” Mac tried to keep her voice on an even level. “But we haven’t come to a conclusion yet.”

“You better do. I want to see this on Friday.”

“That’s going to be difficult. We need more time.”

“I’m not giving you more time. If I’m not seeing this on air on Friday I’m going to fire people.”

“You can’t do that.” Mac replied, more for the people down in the newsroom than for herself.

“Okay, then I’ll fire you.”

“You can’t fire a pregnant woman,” Will interjected.

“Well, that isn’t my fault, is it?” Pruit said spitefully and Will jumped forward, grabbing Pruit’s collar.

“Billy!” Mac shouted and jerked inwardly. She never wanted to use his nickname in front of Pruit.

“You never, _ever_ , talk like this to my wife again, do you understand?” Will warned him, his voice dangerously low.

“Tell your watchdog to back off,” Pruit said outwardly unimpressed to Mac, who had rounded her desk quickly.

“Will, stop it.” She grabbed his arm. “Come on, Will, let off him… He’s not worth it,” she added with a glare at Pruit.

Finally Will dropped his hands and Pruit turned to the door. “Don’t forget Friday,” he called over his shoulder.

The door closed behind him and Mac slapped Will’s chest. “What did you want to achieve with that?”

“I hate how this guy talks to you.”

“I don’t like it either but that’s not important. Important is how we run Friday night show.”

“We can’t do it the way he wants.”

“I agree but you heard him,” she gestured to the door. “I doubt we can do anything that would let him change his plans.”

He looked at her and she noticed a challenge in his eyes. “What if we’ll do it the way we want to without asking him?”

“We can’t do that. It would be against his express wishes.”

“I know.”

She was irritated by his behavior. “Spill it, Billy, what do you have in mind?” she asked, confused and impatient.

“Look, Mac…” He took her arm gently and they sat down in her chairs. “Don’t you think it’s time to draw a line? Show Pruit that he cannot do everything he wants with us? We are no puppets after all.”

She sighed deeply. “Of course it would be nice to show him his boundaries but it’s too risky. I have to think of my people and you heard what he said. He’s going to fire at least some of them and they need their jobs. As much as I wish to do this, I can’t.”

Despite his anger and the difficult situation, Will smiled proudly.

“I know,” she said before he could and raised her hands disarmingly. “I noticed it myself. I’m getting the hang of this job.” His smile grew and she rose from her chair.

“Do you like things how they are now?” he asked when she stopped at the window.

“Of course not. And if I would still be your EP I wouldn’t hesitate for a second,” she said sincerely. “But I’m not your EP anymore. I’m the president of ACN.”

She gazed out of the window and he knew he just had to wait a moment until her curiosity would take over.

He was right and after seconds she turned to him. “Do you have a plan?”

He grinned inwardly while giving her a serious response. “I thought Sloan could do the interview. It’s her field after all.”

Mac nodded quietly. She knew what Will was implying. Sloan could take anyone apart. “Pruit wants that you do the interview,” she said because she had to. “If we give it to Sloan, we would be openly insubordinate. We can’t do that. It would be at the expense of our people down in the newsroom.”

“That’s why we don’t tell them. He won’t fire people who are not involved.”

“I’m not so sure.”

“He’s maybe an ass…”

Her eyebrows shot up. “ _Maybe_?”

“He’s an ass and an idiot,” he said, stood and walked next to her. “But he can’t fire people without a reason. And he has none when we don’t tell them,” he told her firmly. “And Sloan will find a new job quickly.”

“What about us?”

“We could take some time off, taking care of this one,” he laid his hands on her belly. “Maybe even work on another. And you could teach.”

“And you?”

“I stay at home.”

Her eyes got wide. “You don’t want to work? Who are you?”

He grinned. “I thought I could spend a little time playing in Bo’s band.”

She shook his head at his childish wishes. “You thought about this situation. You’re prepared.”

“I did think about this situation, yes,” he admitted.

She groaned frustrated and turned away.

“Mac, what is it?” he asked softly.

“I feel like we’re betraying Charlie,” she whispered.

“It would’ve been the same with him. Ask Sloan.”

“Sloan?” she faced him with a frown.

“Sloan told me that Charlie didn’t want to go through everything he went through with Leona and Reese a second time. Did you know that the two of them even met with another investor?” Mac shook her head. “Charlie had the same thoughts we have now when he just met Pruit.”

“Charlie had a vision; a vision of a good newscast, Will,” she said, still unconvinced. “We would stamp our feet on it.”

“Pruit’s stamping his feet on it. We would try to keep it alive.”

“We still would be openly insubordinate. We never were when Charlie was our boss.”

“We did a few things…”

“It’s a high risk,” she interrupted him short-tempered.

“I know that this can end badly. I’m sure, though, that Charlie would be proud if we’re showing Pruit his boundaries.”

Mac pondered his words and finally nodded defeated. “We’ll talk to Sloan and if she agrees we talk to Jim.” Will opened his mouth but she went on. “He needs to know. And I trust his gut. If he agrees too, we’ll do it.”

“If Jim is involved…”

“He and Maggie want to go to Washington. I’ll make sure that she can start working for Terry Smith and I’ll help him find a job at another network.”

“Okay.”

They smiled sadly at each other and when he saw tears in her eyes he hugged her tight. “We’ll make it, Mac. You’ll see,” he whispered in her hair.

“I wish Charlie could be here,” she mumbled with a trembling voice into his chest.

“He is.”

There stood for a while longer until he slowly released her and gently wiped her tears away. “I guess I better get down to the newsroom. We’ll talk to Sloan and Jim after the show?”

She nodded and with a last smile at her he left the room. She remained at the window and stared at the bowtie which lay still in its place in her shelves. Suddenly, without further ado, she stepped forward and grabbed the phone.

“Nancy? This is MacKenzie…”


	5. Chapter four

Mac sat in her office, watching Friday night show. She nervously played with her fingers and took a look at the clock. Twenty-five minutes until Will was going to give Sloan the word. Twenty-five minutes to run into the control room and stop their plan. Not that she would do it. Because even though she was nervous, she was also content with doing what they decided.

It was Jim who made the final suggestion. When Will and Mac talked to Sloan she was, like they had expected, not afraid of losing her job and willing to do the interview. She and Will had talked themselves quickly into rage and it was Jim who stopped their flying high plans. He also thought the idea of showing Pruit that he couldn’t do anything with them was great, but he didn’t want that Sloan took the guy apart, he wanted a well-prepared interview. Mac was relieved when she heard Jim’s suggestion. That was exactly what she wanted, and not Will’s and Sloan’s destroy mission. Now they would do it with style. And that, Mac was sure, was something Charlie would approve.

To be this sure, Mac needed to talk to Nancy several times during the last days. Nancy felt honored that Mac searched her advice but she was confused that Pruit could fire her people. When Mac told her that Pruit insisted on changing the contract before her promotion so he can fire people if he wanted to, Nancy was outraged and told Mac to do whatever she thought was necessary. Charlie would’ve done the same and he would be proud. To hear those words from the person who was the closest to Charlie gave Mac the strength she was seeking and she promised Nancy to keep fighting for Charlie’s visions of a good news broadcast.

Concentrating back on the show, she cringed a few times and hoped that would be a part of the past soon, too.

Finally, after seemingly endless minutes, Will gave Sloan the word and the interview began. Mac knew there was no turning back so she braced for the storm that was about to come.

From the very first moment Sloan did a marvelous job. Pruit’s business partner was sweating heavily in his suit after only a minute while Sloan fired the questions like bullets in his direction. At the end of the interview he had a bright red face and could barely restrain himself.

Mac smiled proudly and Will said his goodbye to the audience. Straightening in her seat, she muted the sound and began watching the phone. She was sure it would be ringing soon, or her door would open and a furious Pruit would come in. Nothing happened and after five minutes it occurred to her that he could have walked directly to the newsroom. She jumped from her seat as well as she was able to and rushed out of her office to the elevators. Impatiently she rode downstairs and when she entered the newsroom she saw that _News Night’s_ staff stood sprawled throughout the room, waiting for something to happen. Mac exhaled relieved even if the tension was immense. All of them knew by now that this wasn’t a common Friday night show and looked anxious at her.

“Nothing,” she shrugged, what didn’t help to diminish the tension.

Staying quiet, some started to slowly pace while most of them sat on a desk or a chair, waiting.

After a few minutes Sloan spoke. “Maybe it’s my fault.”

“It is not. You did a great job,” Mac assured her.

“What if he didn’t watch the show?” Maggie asked.

“Somebody would’ve told him. The guy would’ve told him…” Will said, gesturing to the studio. “…or is going to tell him.”

“What if he liked it?” Tess asked, the doubt of her own words evidently in her voice.

“There’s no way he liked it. Have you seen the guy at the end of the interview?” Jim said from across the room.

“Maybe he’s not in town,” Maggie said.

“He is,” Sloan told her. “I saw him this afternoon.”

“We just have to wait,” Mac said, putting an end to their surmises. “He’ll know eventually and then we’ll get our response.”

They nodded and got quiet again. No one even thought about leaving before Pruit would storm into the newsroom, so eventually everyone took a seat.

Half an hour later Mac looked at Don. “You should prepare for your show.”

Don nodded and he, Elliott and Sloan left. The others who were still waiting watched the ten o’clock show together and when it ended Mac sent every one home. They couldn’t do anything and if she or Will would hear from Pruit she promised she would call. Reluctantly they agreed and left for their homes.

~ # ~

The weekend was strange. Mac felt like a child who had stolen cookies and waited for her mother to find out and receive her punishment. She had a bad conscience and was annoyed at how cool Will was, as the waiting and not-knowing didn’t seem to bother him at all.

Saturday evening they stood in their kitchen, preparing dinner (yes, they cooked since they moved and Will attended a cooking class after Kendra told him how healthy homemade food was) when Mac faced him with an expression he knew too well. “How can you take this situation so easy?” she asked annoyed.

“There’s nothing we can do right now,” he said, his damn calm voice bothering her even more.

“I hate this,” she said impatiently and chopped the poor carrots into tiny bits.

“I know.”

“Do we still have our jobs?”

“I don’t know.”

“Does our staff still have their jobs? Sloan?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do we need to get up Monday morning and go to work?”

“I would say yes.”

She grunted loudly, waving the knife dangerously close to his nose. “ _I_ should know all the answers to these questions! I’m the president of ACN, damn it, and I know nothing right now!”

He took the knife out of her hands. “You’re doing a very good job.”

“Why don’t I just call him?”

“Because we agreed to wait until he comes to us.”

“I hate this,” she repeated.

“I know. Still, you’re doing the right thing.”

She sighed. “Nancy said so, too.”

“You talked to Nancy?” He was genuinely surprised.

“Yes,” she nodded. “I told her what we had planned. She thought it is about time after all Pruit did to us.”

“I didn’t know you were talking to her about work stuff.”

“I needed to hear from her if Charlie would’ve liked what we did,” she admitted clearly uncomfortable and took the knife from the counter and started chopping again.

“It’s okay for me if you talk to her, Mac, you know that?”

“I know. I think I did it because she knew Charlie better than anyone.” Quietly, she pushed some of the carrot bits aside. “Will…,” she stared hesitantly. “Do you think I’m thinking too much about what Charlie would’ve done and what he would’ve said?”

“You’re not.”

“I’m still thinking of ACN as his network, not mine.”

“Actually it’s Pruit’s.”

She glared at him and he took the knife as a precaution out of her hands.

“You have to admit that we’re still fighting for Charlie’s visions.”

“You may have forgotten it but Charlie’s visions are our visions.”

“I still wish he could be here,” she said sadly. “Helping me with my job, getting to know this one.” She pointed at her belly.

“I do, too.” He saw her tears and hugged her tight. “His death came as a surprise for all of us but I know that it was the hardest for you by taking his position.” She sobbed into his chest. “You’re doing a great job, Mac. And I believe you’ll always think of what Charlie would’ve done but that’s okay.”

She nodded and snuggled deeper into his embrace. “You’re probably right,” she sniffed. “That is… if I still have my job.”

“You do.”

“I hate that you’re so sure.”

“I know, though I think I need to be the calm one now. It wouldn’t help you if I would be worked-up too.”

“Yeah…” He kissed her head and she left his embrace. “The little one’s pretty agile if I’m worked-up.”

“It is,” he said, wiped her tears away and smiled lovingly. “What about dinner?”

“I’m starving.”

He kissed her softly. “Okay, then let’s finish this,” he said, giving her the knife back.

~ # ~

The rest of the weekend passed by without a word from Pruit and Monday morning _News Night’s_ staff met for their regular meeting. All of them were anxious to know what happened and turned their heads when Mac entered the room after she was in her office.

“Nothing,” she said annoyed, throwing her hands in the air. “Just nothing.”

“Shouldn’t we be glad?” Will said. “We did the right thing.”

“It just would be nice if he acknowledge what we did,” Mac replied, pouting. “This silence feels like punishment, too.”

“You want that he yells at us,” Will smirked.

“Some kind of reaction would be nice, yes.”

“Look, I bet he’ll come to us sooner or later but for now we have a show to make.” He frowned when Don limped in. “What happened to you?”

“ _She_ happened,” he could barely raise his arm to point at Sloan.

“Then I guess we don’t want to know,” Mac said, sitting down.

“It’s not what you think. Do you know what she is doing when she is waiting for something?”

“As I said: We don’t want to know.” Mac flipped through some papers, trying to appear busy.

“She goes to the gym,” Don went on. “And of course she wanted me to join her. Two days! Twelve hours each!”

Sloan rolled her eyes at his exaggeration.

“You poor guy,” Maggie mocked. “I needed to prevent this guy…,” she pointed at Jim. “…from calling Mac every ten minutes. And what I needed to do, you don’t want to know.”

“And still he called…,” Will said. “At three in the morning.”

“I just wanted to hear if you had news,” Jim defended himself quietly.

“Can we start now, please?” Mac interjected, her voice all business.

They did and after the meeting she followed Will into his office.

“Maybe I should just go to Pruit.”

“You should not,” he told her, turning behind his desk. “Look, Mac, it’s great that we didn’t hear a thing, isn’t it?”

“No, it’s not,” she complained. “The sword of Damocles is hovering above us…,” she gestured wildly towards the air above their heads. “…and that’s not a nice feeling.”

“Don’t you have work to do?” he tried to distract her.

“I don’t even know if I still have my job.”

“You do.”

“How do you know? And why are you so damn relaxed?!” she shouted. “Do you know something I don’t?”

“I know exactly what you know.”

“Billy?” she warned.

“I promise. It’s just that we can’t do anything right now. He’ll come to us when he thinks he should.”

“He was so communicative and interfering and now he doesn’t say a word. That’s odd!”

“Yes, it is, though, I’m sure you’ll get a reaction. So please try to be patient. I know it’s hard but you can do it.”

Grunting, she turned on her heels and left the room.

 

Half an hour later Mac sat alone in her office, tapping her fingers on her desk, staring at the phone. She thought about calling Pruit’s assistant to know if he was there but until now she could restrain herself by recalling Will’s words in her mind.

“What the fuck,” she threw caution to the wind and reached for the phone. Before she had her hand on it, it started to ring. Surprised and a little shocked she answered it. “Angela, what is it?” she asked her assistant.

“I just got a call. Mrs. Lansing is on her way here.”

“Leona?” Mac frowned. “Do you know why?”

Angela cleared her throat quietly. “No, but she’s here,” she whispered.

In this moment Leona walked into Mac’s office and Mac hung up.

“I see I was announced,” Leona said, closing the door behind her.

“You were. Do you mind telling me what is going on?”

Leona sat down in a chair and smiled conspiratorially. Suddenly the door rushed open and Sloan rushed in. “Kenzie,” she yelled. “You need to talk to…,” she stopped when she saw Leona sitting in Mac’s office. “…Leona,” she ended her sentence astonished.

“I guess you know,” Leona stated matter-of-factly.

“I guess I do.”

“Could you please tell me what is going on?” Mac said irritated, glancing from Leona to Sloan.

“I bought ACN,” Leona said nonchalantly as it was a day-to-day thing to buy a network.

Mac’s mouth fell open. “You did what?” she gasped.

“We’re a part of AWN again!” Sloan shouted excitedly and received a stern glance from Leona. Holding back her excitement, she sat down quietly.

“You bought us? How?” Mac was visibly taken aback.

“I’m sorry, I can’t tell you much…”

Mac’s eyes widened. “Is this something illegal?” she interrupted her, whispering like somebody could hear them.

Leona rolled her eyes. “No.” Relieved, Mac exhaled. “What I can tell you,” Leona went on. “…is that you’re a part of AWN again and that you’re reporting to Reese from now on.”

“What about Pruit?”

“He’s out of the news business and concentrating back on his old.”

Disbelievingly Mac shook her head. “How did you get him to sell ACN?”

“It wasn’t easy but you and your people did a great job.”

“ _We_?” Sloan and Mac said in unison.

“Yes, you.”

“We didn’t know.”

“Of course you did not. Nobody told you.”

Mac and Sloan exchanged a glance. “Did Charlie know?”

“No,” Leona said sadly, well aware that Charlie would’ve liked what she did. “We couldn’t tell him like we couldn’t tell you. And when he died we needed someone on our side who would keep Pruit on his toes.”

“Are you telling me that this was a planned scenario?” Mac’s eyebrows shot up. She never expected, not even Leona Lansing, could do something like this.

“It was.”

Realization dawned on Mac, though she needed clarification. “Everything you did… getting Pruit to promote me, helping with the job me, giving me advises... was part of a plan?”

“Yes.”

Mac was stunned. “Why did you buy us now? Why not earlier?”

“We had to be careful and this was the first real opportunity.”

“How did you get the money? He certainly wanted a lot of money. Probably more than for what you sold us six months ago.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

Mac sat back, trying to process what just happened.

“Look, Mac,” Leona laid her hand on Mac’s. “I know this must be unbelievable and confusing but my heart was bleeding when I sold the network. I didn’t only say that I love ACN because I was high.” Mac’s eyes widened at her words. “I meant it. And I meant when I said that I was proud because I am proud of what you did. I hated to have this guy in my building and how he treated you.”

Tears welled up in Mac’s eyes and she put her hand over her mouth.

“What you have to worry about now is that I want everything like it was. So clean up,” Leona said firmly and rose from the chair. “I want a business plan on my desk next Monday.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

She walked away but stopped at the doorstep and turned with a serious expression around. “And Mac, I didn’t do this for charity. You have to earn money. A lot of money.”

Mac nodded, knowing that Leona and Reese wouldn’t make it easy for her in the future but somehow that wasn’t interesting at all in this moment.

The door closed and Mac looked at Sloan who was as overwhelmed as she was. “That’s unbelievable.”

“It is,” Sloan agreed. “When I saw it I thought it was a mistake.”

“I never thought I would be happy to have Leona and Reese as my bosses,” Mac smiled widely. “I guess we should get down there and tell everyone.”

Sloan nodded and they made their way downstairs.

~ # ~

“Okay, guys. Enough is enough,” Mac yelled when they entered the newsroom. All stopped in silence, looking at her as if she was insane. Sloan had to bite back her smile. “I said enough is enough,” Mac repeated even louder. “I want this to be a newsroom again. These graphics are out, I will never see them again,” she said, gesturing to a screen where the new ACN logo was displayed. “ _Jim_!”

“Yes, Ma’am?”

“Who do you think you are?”

He looked unsure at her, thinking her pregnancy hormones had finally taken over. “I’m the EP of _News Night_.”

“And why are you doing such crap?” she yelled in his face.

“She’s having way too much fun with this,” Sloan murmured to herself and couldn’t hide her smile any longer. It didn’t matter. No one was looking at her.

Jim struggled with words.

“I don’t hear you, Jim!”

“I do what my boss wants.”

“Oh no, you don’t.”

“What’s going on here?” Will shouted, walking out of his office.

“You’re doing crap!” Mac shouted in his direction. “And I want it to stop. Tonight I want to see a news broadcast I can be proud of. If not, I’m going to fire people.”

A few hearable breaths were sucked in.

“Mac, what’s this about?” Will asked softer now, walking over to her.

“I don’t like how things were handled here. So I change them.” She, too, couldn’t hide her smile any longer.

“Mac?” he frowned confused and stopped in front of her.

“Come on, tell them!” Sloan shouted from the door and both women exchanged a smile.

“We have a new boss.” Mac’s eyes sparkled.

“What? Who?”

“Leona Lansing.”

Several jaws dropped.

“How…?” Will whispered disbelievingly.

“I have no idea how she did this…,” Mac shrugged with happy tears in her eyes. “But she did.”

He stumbled forward, embracing her. “That’s great to hear,” he whispered in her hair.

Other people followed their example. Maggie and Jim hugged tightly while Sloan grabbed Don’s shirt and kissed him senseless.

Slowly Will released Mac. “I think it’s time for Don Quixote to come back,” he said, his mouth close to hers.

“I am Don Quixote,” she whispered firmly. “You’re his horse.”

“Donkey,” he breathed.

“Whatever.”

_The End_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, thank you all for the warm welcome and the kind reviews!! It made me very happy :)


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